But you knew that. Anyone who has driven up Highway 395 to fish at the legendary Crowley Lake or hike up Mt. Whitney knows how spectacular this area is. (Full disclosure: I go backpacking or hiking in the Eastern Sierra every year.)

Louisville, whether or not it's Derby time, leads the more citified places -- "Could it be that the new Portland is in ... Kentucky?"-- followed by Philadelphia for its newly acquired art pedigree and Minnesota's Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The two unexpected picks: Fairbanks, Alaska, selected because it's the one place where you can see the northern lights 240 days a year, and American Samoa -- islands farther away than Hawaii but still U.S. turf.

I always wonder what didn't make the list this year, so I called up Reid and asked him. Would you believe the entire state of New Jersey (an unofficial No. 11) and Oklahoma City?

"The No. 1 travel album cover of all time is [Bruce Springsteen's] 'Greetings From Asbury Park' and it turns 40 next year," Reid said in making a case for New Jersey.